Article [13] ST1300 - Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

[Mellow]

Please: This is my first try at this, those with more experience please
chime in with your tips and tricks that might help make this a better
procedure.

Rear Flange Bearing RR
Step 1

Remove Ring - This is pretty simple, some needle nose pliers will
work, the ring does not have a lot of tension on it.

Step 2
Remove Flange - I had to tap my flange some to help loosen it up.

Then, by jiggling it a little it will come right off.

Step 3
Drive out Bearings - Using a socket, drive out the distance
collar from the other side of the flange.

You don't have to use much force.

Now, using a smaller socket, drive out the distance collar from
the bearings.

Step 4
Install new Bearings - Some people put the new bearings in the
freezer for a few hrs, I did for a couple and it helped but I should
have left them in longer.

The new bearings will tap into the distance collar pretty easy.

Then line it up on the flange.

To drive the near bearings into the flange, you can try using a
large socket but make sure the socket only touches the outer
race/part of the bearing - force on the bearings or inner race
could render them inoperable.

I had a couple socket that looked like they might work however,

they had a beveled edge and I was afraid that would harm the
outer race or do other damage.

So, I used the old bearings and tapped the outer edge a little at a
time to push the new bearings into the flange. Worked better than I
thought it would.

Some have used a board to drive in the bearings also.

That's it! It's a lot easier than I thought.
​

 

[BakerBoy]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Joe, I like it, very concise.

The only thing I wondered is what the bearing numbers are. I believe the OEM bearing is Honda part #91052-KZ4-J21 "BEARING (6905RS)", and it appears you've used a substitute bearing number...could benefit somone to show those numbers.

 

[Tankereng]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Bravo... I almost want to change mine...just to do it.....ALMOST:crackup

 

[Mellow]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Joe, I like it, very concise.

The only thing I wondered is what the bearing numbers are. I believe the OEM bearing is Honda part #91052-KZ4-J21 "BEARING (6905RS)", and it appears you've used a substitute bearing number...could benefit somone to show those numbers.

John, the ones I used were from a local motorcycle shop. The brand is All Balls and they are marked as 6905RS but these are sealed on both sides.

You can see the part number better here:

 

[Landon]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Joe- Why did you change them out? How many miles do you have on that bike? Did you just do it to give us this article? I think I may pull my rear wheel and check the bearings this winter since I have 43,500 on them.

 

[Mellow]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Joe- Why did you change them out? How many miles do you have on that bike? Did you just do it to give us this article? I think I may pull my rear wheel and check the bearings this winter since I have 43,500 on them.

The Story: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54976

I still want to open on the old ones to see if there really was some notching or if I was just imagining it. Either way, I got to see how easy they are to replace.

Just over 15,000 miles on mine. Again, I 'think' mine were notchy.. not sure if that means they would fail in 1 mile or 10,000 miles..

 

[STinner]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

i'm just wondering, this replacement isnt required at only 17k miles is it?
what should i look for, or listen for if i need to do this. my '04 has 36k on it. i dont have any noticeable evidences that something is amiss back there.

thanks


dave

 

[Mellow]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

i'm just wondering, this replacement isnt required at only 17k miles is it?
what should i look for, or listen for if i need to do this. my '04 has 36k on it. i dont have any noticeable evidences that something is amiss back there.

thanks


dave

With the wheel off, put your finger in the hole where the driven flange is and move the bearing... it should feel smooth... if it feels 'bumpy' or 'notchy' it means there is a possibility that it might fail.. no one will be able to tell you when it will fail.. but that rough feel is a sign it might.

This should be something checked on every tire change.

 

[STinner]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

sounds like a good practice to get into.
i've always trusted the dealer at tire changes to
do the right thing. well, the tupperware is off for
a good cleaning right now underneath so its time to look for myself

thanks joe




dave

 

[mageerc]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Why Honda used a bearing that is only sealed on one side is a conundrum to me. If it were in a location that could be repacked, it wouldn't be an issue. When these bearings failed on my bike at 25,000 miles, I went to a local bearing house and purchased some double sealed bearings to replace them. They were Timkens I think, but I have put some 25,000 more miles on the bike without a failure. Joe is certainly right when he says that you need to check these bearings every tire change. I don't think the average Honda shop does this at all when they change a tire.

 

[BakerBoy]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Regarding sealed vs. unsealed bearings... In my industrial eperience for high-speed, variable-temperature applications, there are places for double sealed, single sealed, or unsealed bearings. It all depends on what the environment is for lubrication, cooling, and whether you're allowing pressure to escape at a controlled location.

IMO, whether the bearing is sealed or unsealed in the ST rear axle is of lower importance than having overly tight or overly loose fit between rollers and races, or overly tight or overly loose fit between races and their seats. The former is controlled at the bearing manufacturer, and the latter affected during manufacture at mother Honda. (Yeah, I've read on this site of a couple housings that were too small that had to be machined out...shame on Honda's QC!)

The advantages of unsealed bearings (both sides) are that they let air/gas flow through, and they can be a bit lower cost. Allowing flow through the bearing can be good if intended or bad if you didn't intend because the lubricating grease (also acts as a coolant) can get blown out. If the application allows adding lubrication while it is in place, unsealed bearings are usually required. For the ST rear axle assembly, you can only lubricate the bearings when it is disassembled so seals can be used on the bearings.

Regarding bearings with seals on one side only... The advantage of a single seal is that it helps keep some of the grease in the bearing and provides some protection from an unwanted environment (dust, water, ...). They also allow the bearing to be cleaned and repacked with grease.

The advantages of double-sealed bearings is that they hold the lubrication at the load bearing rollers, and they offer a degree of protection from unwanted things in the environment (dust, water, solvents, metal filings, ...). The disadvantage is that the bearing only has the grease put in at the manufacturer...and that grease does break down over time. But to provide perspective, unsealed bearings can be regreased but the working grease is usually a very low volume and therefore breaks down much quicker. In contrast, the grease stored in sealed bearings does break down, but there's a lot more of it contained within the bearing thereby providing good life.

One subtle advantage in the case of sealed bearings in the ST rear end, an adjacent pair of bearings is better off if there is a shield or seal between them. One bearing unexpectedly going out does not put debris into the other bearing, so you can limp further to get repairs.

The only 'caution' I have is if double sealed bearings are put in on only one side of the assembly you may see a bit more grease move out of any unsealed bearings on the other end of the assembly. I suspect the effect is very small in the ST rear end, but in heating up or cooling down the assembly (at the start or end of rides), there will be slight pressure differences across the bearings and so any other bearings which aren't sealed will eventually experience more their grease 'blown' out and useless to lubricating and cooling.

Properly designed axles & bearings should last a long time...the ST tires wear out quickly so you've frequent opportunity to check the bearings. Even if a bearing becomes rough shortly after a tire change, it will last quite a while (unless you wheelie a lot or carry heavy loads at high speeds for long times). That's not an argument to ignore rough bearings, rather that if the bearing becomes rough it has a reasonable chance of lasting until the next tire replacement when you can catch it. If it is rough, replace it!

I checked my ST's rear bearings this summer during a tire change...all were still very smooth and there was no lateral looseness of the inner races. I had Honda spares on hand but I left the original bearings in place as there was no reason to change them. If I didn't have Honda-labeled bearings already in hand, I'd have no hesitation in using double-sealed bearings.

Sorry... a bit long. :

 

[tickle]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Do these bearings fail because the axle may not be perfectly straight??
Their obvious purpose is to keep the flange rotating in the plane as the wheel, if the axle is even slightly bent these bearings are toast. The ST1100 didn't have this and I experienced at total final drive meltdown.
I had to replace these on my 04 at 15Kmi.:bow1:

 

[Fred D]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Just a thought on chilling the bearings before installation. In one of my other lives, bearings were packed in dry ice for half an hour or so before installing.

 

[sfay]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

Hi guys just a coment on what i found with my 2004. I had a grinding noise when I went around corners. So I pulled the tire to check it out. The brg's were toast one brg. all I could find was 1 ball and little peace of the roll cage. the other brg. was rough. When I installed the new brgs they seemed to be tight so I had the hsg. checked and it had .003
taper in the bottom of the bore. Where I work has a machine shop so they removed the taper and I've been 15,000 mile with no problem. I think that some of the hsg. from Honda were bad. These brg's are used as spline line up. Note it holds a peace that goes into rubber. that drives the wheel and lines up the spine. they are not the main wheel brg's. more like spacers for the main wheel brg's.
Note this is my frist time with a coment go easy on me!

 

[Tom Mac 04a]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

John, the ones I used were from a local motorcycle shop. The brand is All Balls and they are marked as 6905RS but these are sealed on both sides.:

Mellow and group...

Wondering if the bearings are on the dry side (of grease) and it would pay to repack the bearing before an install (like in older days when you manually pack a car bearing)?

 

[Carl Custer]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

For the last set of bearings for my ST1100, I called these guys:
http://www.cbrbearing.com/
Gave them the year, model, and card number.
Got bearings, seals, and a thank you.
SabMag recommended for several years.

Hints:
Put the bearings in the freezer when you get them . . . so you don't forget.:
Use the old bearing to seat the new.
Harbor Freight has a nice set of long drifts/pin-punches that are excellent for removing the old bearings.

 

[ST Dan]

Re: ST1300 Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

when you are checking the bearings, listen...they will sound different if they are bad. my first ST ( 06 at 38k miles) that was the only sign...they just didn't sound right,felt smooth tho, I had a set just in case, so dannyk and I pulled the old ones and put the new ones in. we then carefully tore apart the bearing that we thought was bad...the inner race had a few notches in it.

Just put new shoes on my new ST (07 at 34k Miles). again it moved smoothly but didn't sound right, I replaced them...haven't had a chance to tear the old bearing apart yet to check the inner race, but I'll probably get to it next weekend....YMMV

 

[STark1050]

Re: ST1300-Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

I got a call from my local STealer this afternoon that my tire had been mounted and was ready to be picked up, the guy said that the rear bearings were in need of replacement. I thought that this was just a ruse to do additional work that wasn't needed. I only have 48k on the bike and was not aware that they were so weak.
Thanks for the info.

 

[BikemanKZ]

Re: ST1300-Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

108,000 on my orginal wheel bearings, rear flange bearing replaced about a year ago.
YMMV
KZ

 

[STark1050]

Re: ST1300-Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

I just got around to replacing the flange bearings, as I stated when the dealer said they were bad I didn't believe him. When I got them off it was obvious, about a third of the balls were missing. I'm glad I replaced them now instead of having them fail later on a trip.
The procedure is quite simple and can be done in about a hour.